Tired of your granola-munching friends lecturing you about Earth Day and tech recycling? Here is a list of suggestions on ways to have fun techno-tinkering. The bonus: You'll also have a way to stifle your pals' self-righteous eco-chatter about e-waste.

How? Just look around the house and your office for old gear and then use our instructions to turn those items into something new. We've assembled a collection of fun, innovative ways to reuse obsolete devices.

Make room for newer green technology--such as that shown in our slideshow Green Tech and Gadgets for Earth Day--by changing your junk into jewels. For example, let earbuds become full-fledged speakers for your MP3 player, make VHS tapes into external hard drive holders, and use Lego bricks to make USB flash drives (see how in the articles in the box at upper right). Face it--this is much more appealing for a techie like you than a trip to a recycling center.

We've also included some recycling tips if you want to do a bit of spring cleaning and get rid of unusable products. (If you use a Mac, here is some Mac-specific guidance from our compatriots at Macworld.com.) Also, be sure to check out our Earth Day downloads that make it easy to save energy, ink, and paper.